


Traditions

by Flower_In_The_Bloom



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: M/M, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-09 01:03:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5519735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flower_In_The_Bloom/pseuds/Flower_In_The_Bloom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They track their relationship with ornaments each year during the holiday season. And each year their relationship grows with their ornaments collection, bringing them closer than ever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Traditions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ClairdeLuna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClairdeLuna/gifts).



> So this is for blue-boxeddreamer on Tumblr, for the BBC Merlin Secret Gift Exchange. I really hope you like it, I struggled a little with figuring out an idea and writing it out. So thank you to merlinsbed on Tumblr who helped me a lot with this idea. They suggested 'fight over what ornaments go on the tree' and I thought of this.  
> Enjoy :D  
> Also minor warning for mentions of depression and minor character death.

Ever since they were young, Merlin and Arthur had a tradition they swore to uphold for their entire lives. One that they could never break, for if they did, their friendship would break along with it. They would go out to the shops, wherever they were for the Holidays that year, and they would purchase something that represented that year, or their relationship, in the form of an ornament.

It was cheesy, as Arthur liked to point out year after year, but he  _ was _ the one who started it all.

They started collecting ornaments their first year of middle school, when their friendship became even stronger when Arthur lost his mother a year after Merlin lost his father. They looked for something to occupy their time throughout the year, tried to keep each other company and to console their remaining parents. But when the holidays rolled around, Arthur’s father Uther slowly lost touch with the world, as he fell into a depression over his wife's death.

Trying to deal with the grief and having to take care of his father, Arthur came up with an idea that would soon transform their friendship and strengthen it even more.

The idea came to Arthur when he was walking through the mall with Merlin during their break. He saw a gorgeous ornament, red and gold, which was glistening in the light. It gave him a sense of hope, and reminded him of their friendship. It filled him with a warmth that he only felt when he was around Merlin, so Arthur knew he had to have it.

From there grew a tradition, and slowly it began to heal them individually and through their friendship.

Each year brought different hardships, each year different challenges that they had to face, and one year brought their questions of sexuality into the mix.

It was their last year of High School, both struggling to decide what university to go to, both struggling with their sexuality, and both preoccupied with family. They finally found a chance to talk during prom night, when the night had died down and they found themselves outside, taking in the night air after a long night of dancing.

“You know, I think I might like guys… and girls,” although Merlin sounded sure of himself, he could feel his hand shaking by his side, and it wasn’t because of the cold. As simple as the sentence sounded, it was difficult for Merlin to get the words out.

Arthur’s eyes flitted over to Merlin quickly, then set his eyes back up towards the sky, “I think..,” he gulped and sighed,”I think I do too.” Arthur slipped his hand around Merlin’s waist and grabbed his shaking hand, taking it into his own.

“You know it’s okay to be bi, right Merlin? It’s okay to question yourself sometimes, and it’s even more okay to come to terms with it and say the words out loud.”

Merlin squeezed his hand and chuckled, “It’s funny, because, I do know that, but I don’t feel it in my heart. The reassurance that it’s okay just isn’t there, I feel like people won’t be okay with me, like they won’t believe me. They’ll think I’m lying, they’ll say I’m confused. And that scares me.”

“I don’t think you’re confused. Hell I know you’re not confused. If you said it, Merlin, if you were ready enough to say it, then you are definitely not confused, and no one has any right to say that to you.”

Merlin smiled, “You know that too, right Arthur? You won’t forget it?”

“Never.”

They kissed for the first time that night. Once again their friendship grew, and this time turned into the romantic relationship they both never knew they were missing.

They spent their first Holiday as a couple together with Merlin’s mom, Hunith, who fully accepted the relationship between the two.

It was also the first year they also bought an ornament for one another, not just an ornament for the both of them. After they put up each ornament they had collected together over the years, they exchanged the ornaments they had gotten for each other.

This time it not only represented their growing relationship, but the newfound love they had for each other, and the long arduous journey they had shared together. From that moment on, they knew completely and wholeheartedly, that they would be together forever. They were soulmates, not only as friends but as a couple who saw both the good and the bad in each other, and who made the other stronger.

The first holiday they spent in their new home together was a special occasion. Although both of the men had lost the closest people to them, they still battled through and made that year count. 

They decorated the whole house that year, making it as festive as possible, and collecting the best ornament yet. This ornament not only held the memories of their lost parents, but of their home and life together in a new world they had never known before. It was almost like a right of passage for the two, and this specific ornament was even more near and dear to their hearts than any of the others had been.

They got married in the winter, and as a present to each other they exchanged an ornament that represented their relationship up until that point. They decorated a small tree at their wedding reception, with all the ornaments they had collected over the years, telling a story that couldn’t have been told any other way. Everyone at the reception knew and understood that that tree represented their deep love for each other, as well as that journey they had heard so much about, and it always warmed their hearts each time they heard about it.

Adopting a child was something the two had always wanted to do, and now that they had found a proper home with a proper life and stability, the two decided it was time to make that step.

They introduced their daughter, Gwen, to their friends and family a week after they adopted her. She was a gorgeous baby, calm and always laughing, and a complete angel in both the men’s eyes.

For her first Christmas, they bought an ornament of an angel to represent their year. The year Gwen, their angel, made her way into their lives. The year where everything seemed to stop and make sense. They were finally completely content with their lives, but the ornaments continued to go up. They would collect ornament after ornament, soon Gwen joined in on the tradition when she was able to understand what it was and was able to continue the tradition long after.

Their love for each other will never die, just like their ornaments never will.


End file.
